Answers Bible Curriculum Second Edition Unit 5 Lesson 41
We start out Unit 5 of the ABC Second Edition with a look at the birth of Jacob and Esau and the selling of Esau’s birthright. Why did Esau agree to such an unequal exchange with Jacob? Did Jacob do wrong in taking advantage of his brother? And what are we to learn from this account for our own walks with God today?
Our main text is Genesis 25:19-34.
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all right great well let’s begin walking it and welcome back to Sunday school I know it feels like forever since we’ve actually done this it’s very good to be back with you good to see you or back into our answers Pocket Edition for this survey the old and new testaments with an apologetic emphasis where were we last we met you may remember that we were in Genesis we had just transitioned from the life of Abraham to the life of Isaac and we saw specifically how God dramatically provided a wife for Isaac via Rebekah just the perfect wife for Isaac just an ideal wife in so many ways with this marriage God was moving forward his plan of redemption we already have some significant promises presented to us in Genesis that we’ve looked at genesis 3:15 the promise of the seed of the woman and then was part of the Abrahamic promise that in him and in his seed all the families of the earth would be blessed so God is moving forward his plan of redemption the plan of restoration via a coming seed we’re gonna see as we move through the Scriptures we’re gonna continue to see how God moves that plan forward in unit 5 what we’re in now we’re going to see how this plan progresses through the lives of Isaac Jacob and Joseph by the end of unit 5 we will be in Egypt and so will Israel it will be in Egypt they’ll be multiplying under that circumstances of blessing provided by God through Joseph that’s where we’re gonna end unit 5 we’ve got some important instructions though to hear before we get there some important lessons to learn and that starts with today’s lesson Esau it sells is birthright really looking forward to talking about this with you let’s pray before we go on what God – thank you so much for your word your word is a lamp to our feet we need it to light the way to give us wisdom to show us what reality truly is great you’d help me be able to explain this well now I pray God that we’d be transformed by it we are not here simply to learn knowledge but we are here to be changed by your word so I pray that you’d accomplish that Jesus exalt yourself today and God I pray that we’d fall more in love with you Jesus name Amen well one of the most painful experiences in life is what do you make when you willingly make a terrible exchange there yeah you willingly make a terrible exchange and you only realize it later let me know a certain logo on the screen and perhaps you’ve heard the following story man named Ronald Wayne there’s a former colleague of Steve Jobs no Steve Jobs at Apple Fame Ronald Wayne once had a 10% stake in the Apple company but he sold that stake in 1976 for $800 so 10% stake in Apple he sold in 1976 for $800 since that time as you know Apple has done quite well so guess how much Ronald Wayne’s stake would be worth today 10% of Apple a lot of money actually 83 billion dollars 83 billion dollars and he sold it for $800 was that a good exchange well I definitely not and I’m sure that sting it Ronna Wade still alive today and that must sting if I were him I wouldn’t want to have any fruit in my house to remind me of that choice that I made to sell that stock herds are so bad that steak but how could he have known if a few variables in life had turned out differently isn’t his choice may have been smart but it turned out to be a terrible exchange but in contrast to this what if there is a situation in life where we knew that there is a guaranteed investment that would pay off in the future pay off big time but it would just require a little bit of discomfort in the present in the short term would it not be wise to endure that temporary discomfort so that you can get that abounding guaranteed payout in the end of course but I think you can see where I’m going with this isn’t this exactly what the Christian life is as Christians or as a Christian you invest that discomfort the difficulty of giving up your life in this world for what or for the sake of an abounding future with God for everlasting bliss with him you invest the daily difficulty and discipline and suffering that is obedience to Christ and you do this in order to inherit lasting joy to obtain blessing the blessing of walking with your Lord in that way it’s like an investment but how many Christians ignore the guaranteed return of God and they withdraw their investment early for the sake of some fleeting pleasure or sin they sacrifice God’s more lasting blessings even damaging their relationships with others their health their finances and most acutely the satisfaction of walking in fellowship with God give that up even worse some turn their backs on Jesus altogether and they give up everlasting life they give up true treasure with God for a few passing days of self-willed indulgence on the earth now his is not this kind of spiritual exchange a much more terrible deal than even what Ronald Wayne experienced in the passage we have to look at today we’re gonna look at the poster child of this kind of terrible spiritual exchange a person even rivaling what Judas experienced he’s another guy with a terrible exchange we’re gonna see today Esau hasn’t as the poster child of the terrible exchange but he’s not the only one we’re also gonna see Isaac and Jacob illustrating the same kind of not to the same degree but the same kind of shortsightedness that comes from not going in God’s Way but through it all meanwhile God will be faithful God will be accomplishing his will his plan using even the sin and folly of this ancient patriarchal family to accomplish his will so please open your Bibles to our passage which we find in Genesis 25 Genesis 25 we’re going to be looking at the latter part of the chapter verses 19 to 34 we’ll be using as we do our inductive Bible study method now we’ll observe the text in two parts well read and observe and then we’ll proceed to interpretation and application so let’s just start with verses 19 to 26 first all along with me Genesis 25 verses 19 to 26 I guess I should turn there verse 19 now these are the records of the generation of Isaac Abraham some your hand became the father of Isaac and Isaac was 40 years old when he took Rebekah the daughter of Beth ul to err me enough paddan-aram the sister of Laban aramean to be his wife Isaac prayed to the Lord that’s the name Yahweh there Isaac pray to Yahweh on behalf of his wife because she was barren and Yahweh answered him and Rebecca his wife conceived but the children struggle together within her and she said if it is so why then am I this way so she went to inquire of Yahweh he always said to her two nations are in your womb and two peoples will be separated from your body one people shall be stronger than the other and the older shall serve the younger one her days to be delivered were fulfilled behold there were twins in her womb and a first came forth read all of corn like a hairy garment they named him Esau afterward his brother came forth with his hand holding on to Esau sealed his name was called Jacob and Isaac was 60 years old when she gave birth to them okay so step one of our Bible study method after reading is we make basic observations of the text so let’s do that notice what we learn here about Rebecca she is God’s perfect provision of a wife rising the verse 21 says she’s barren this was what God perfectly arranged Rebecca is not able to have children wait a second isn’t this a little bit of deja vu who will send this problem Sarah did baby Hannah’s life and then we’re gonna see Jacobs wife want to Jacobs wives later Rachel she will have the same problem seems to be theme in the patriarchs now interestingly Abraham and Rachel a response their Baroness by actually giving their hand to their husband say I’m gonna obtain children through her well how do Isaac and Rebecca respond notice we text keys in on Isaac and it says Isaac prays to God no and God how does he respond he hears Isaac’s prayer but for how long did Isaac pray notice we’re told in the earlier part of the passage verse 20 the Isaac is 40 years old when he marries Rebekah but how old is Isaac when God answers Isaac’s prayer and twins are born to the couple and verse 26 tells us Isaac is 60 years old so how much time went by 20 years 20 years 20 years of praying and waiting and being barren really god yes that’s right and by the way this is if Abraham was paying attention he would be like hey that’s nothing remember he waited 25 years after God had given in the promise and he had already been waiting before that time he waited decades for for Isaac but this is something else that God did with Isaac and Rebekah but notice what prompts Rebecca’s question in verse 22 she realizes that the there’s some struggling going on in her womb and actually the Hebrew word for struggling here is quite violent the word can be translated smashing or crashing did you imagine if your pregnancy or your wife’s pregnancy can only be described as crashing within Noah that must have been a very difficult pregnancy and remember Rebekah doesn’t have any modern medicine or ultrasound machines to help her get through it or to even understand what’s going on she must have been in great pain and in extreme work she doesn’t understand what’s going on inside of her so what does she do well like Isaac notice that she goes to God text says she goes to inquire Yahweh to ask God to reveal what is going on and this is something that she could do in those days what does God God responds to her cry he answers her but in a way that’s a little puzzling verse 23 God gives a prophecy to Rebekah that she probably would not have understood right away notice of verse 23 reveals about what’s going on says in her womb our two nations or two peoples and they will separate from one another indeed they’re already in the process of separating one will be stronger than the other one people will be strong into the other and the older will serve the younger now this prophecy implies that Rebekah has twins she might not realize this she and Isaac might not realize this until the twins were actually born because notice in verse 24 it says behold there are twins in her womb whenever you see the word behold it’s kind of like the the narratives like you must have put you in the situation it’s like look ah ha so maybe they were surprised maybe they’re like no that’s what this was what was going on all along twins were in her womb the whole time and they had been struggling it was related to this prophecy and notice who the older twin is one who’s born first that’s Esau verse 25 says and since he was born red and hairy and this redness could refer to a skin tone or his hair color and his name appears to have something to do with hair units though we don’t know exactly what Esau means the waves were in here it sounds like has something to do with hairiness and he must have been quite hairy I don’t know if you’ve seen babies that have a good amount of hair nothing like what he saw apparently was if you can be described as as if you were covered all over with a hairy garment one of the hairiest babies parents must have been quite surprised he saw the older he comes out first and who’s the younger one one second Jacob verse 26 says Jacob comes out with his hand we’re having me sauce he’ll know this is not exactly normal this must have been a little surprising to his parents and it results in Jacob’s name Jacob sounds like the Hebrew word for Kiel or he’ll grab her keel clencher but that phrase he’ll grab our keel collector has another meaning even more figurative meaning not exactly complementary does Jacob me more figuratively means a planter trickster even betrayer someone who is always at your heels trying to trip you up that’s not exactly the meaning of Jacob but it sounds it’s part of one of the meanings of what Jacob could mean so it comes down to verse 26 it’s a crazy 20 years we’ve got Baroness prayer difficult pregnancy proxy two kids whose birth this really odd we’ve got one extremely hairy kid and one who’s grabbing the others healed and they’ve been in conflict in the womb you’re in conflict out of the womb no I’m sure Isaac and Rebekah were relieved to see Wow pregnancies come to and now we’ve got two Healthy Kids must have been a sense of expectation about these children in their future this is a normal pregnancy you’ve got the prophecy we’ve got what we’ve seen what does the future hold for these boys when they see how expectations in the future begin to be fulfilled as we look at how verses 27 to 34 verse 27 34 let’s read that now says when the boys grew up Esau became a skillful hunter Amanda the field Jacob was a peaceful man living in tents now Isaac loved Esau cuz he had a taste for game but Becca loved Jacob when Jacob had cooks nice I came in from the field and he was famished and Esau said to Jacob please let me have us follow that red stuff there Ryan famished therefore his name was called Edom but Jacob said first sell me your birthright he saw said before I’m about to die so what Houston is the birthright to me Jacob said first swears me so he swore to and sold his birthright to Jacob then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew and he ate and drank and rose and went on his way thus Esau despised his birth let’s observe some more here oldest grow up what is he saw become skillful hunter a man of the open fields he likes to be in the wilds Jacob was he grow up to be says a peaceful man living in tents these or civilized and his brother he works as a pastoralist lifts intense raises livestock a verse 28 gives us another key detail each of the parents favors a different child Isaac looks ezel but notice why it says because Isaac had a taste for gain that is for the meat that comes from hunted animals that’s a somewhat crass reason for liking one kid over the other isn’t it I like him better because he brings me food I like okay Isaac by the way this isn’t the first time in the Bible that food has led people in trouble Adam and Eve hello and it won’t be the last Isaac loves Esau Rebecca we’re told loves Jacob why she loved Jacob they don’t know good meat for good reason maybe not these parent favors a different kid more sister recipe for family harmony I don’t think so starting from verse 29 we hear about a certain momentous day Jacobs at home it just got some stew and Esau comes in from the open field and he’s famished he’s exhausted so you saw asks for a swallow of the red stew literally a drink hey can I haven’t that red stuff this red stuff here yes there’s the color red again that’s why we have the little parenthetical note about you saws other name he’s called Edom and Edom is a word for red is that name ring a bell EDA what have for the people of Israel because there was a people called Edom a nation called Eden the they were the descendants of Esau and they lived on the southeast border of the land of Canaan as you saw I mean as Israel journeys through the wilderness they encounter Edom and Edom is not friendly they will become enemies of Israel but back to Esau yes for a little drink of this – no that’s not Jacobs response instead peaceful civilized Jacob says first give me your birthday hmm I think the birthright issue has been much on Jacobs mind as the younger brother this is a little cold right it’s a little mercenary I want to give you some stew first give me your birthright but I mean maybe he’s just joking I mean no one would be short-sighted enough to give up a birthright for a bowl of stew right I mean the birthright is the birthright they say oh what’s so great about Bridger well let’s remember the context the society in which this is taking place the birthright represents family leadership it’s representative of an extra inheritance it’s representative of greater honor and preeminence the blessing a special blessing of the father birthright is quite valuable it belongs firstborn but no fool I mean no person would be fool enough to just offer the birth right away right okay especially not for some stew right now for a single meal but then look at verse 32 Esau says beautiful I’m about to die what good is a birthright to me really Esau you’re gonna give up the birthright is it because he’s about to die is he really about to die well remember just because he says that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s true that’s necessarily mean it’s true we’ll come back to whether that issue when we talk about interpretation he says he’s about to die and he indicates his willingness to make this exchange so Jacob forces him to swear he saw swears and he sells his birthright to Jacob say can you really do that well apparently again there are a few other ancient records of people selling giving up their birth room this is what do you saw does and what is he difficulty verse 34 says he gets some bread and he gets some lentil stew mental stew for a birthright I know if any of you have ever had lentil stew before I mean good this for a birthright did Esau even enjoy it notice the text becomes very Curt all of sudden after this exchange it says Esau Hey he drank he rose up when was way no gladness expressed no remorse expressed no thought at all just consumption and departure and then we get the concluding sentence thus Esau despised just perfect this is a summary statement applied or given by our author Moses but don’t misunderstand the word despised here in English we often think it despises like absolute loathing and hatred this is not you saw saying I hate my birthright so much I want to spit on the ground just jump up and down on it good rinse that off word that’s not the sense here that’s not the sense of this Hebrew word the word despise here is a the sense of treating with contempt treating lightly treating of no account so this is like Esau saying birth right birth right so what you actually carry about that kind of thing fine I’ll give you the birthright excuse me some stew that’s what Moses is observing you saw demonstrated he had to intent for his birthright so but made some basic observations important observations now we go to step two of our method for studying the Bible and that’s interpretation when you use our observation to see if we can answer different questions about our passage and get at the meaning the main message of Moses so I’ve got a number of questions for us to consider first why did God lead Isaac and Rebekah into twenty years of difficulty why he put bringing that season upon them well text doesn’t say what could be the only reason God the side of the day was wise God decide that it was good I decided that it was just God always has a reason for what he does we don’t hear too specifically what those reasons are but we know it’s part of what who he is he’s good why isn’t just and he was doing that for Isaac and Rebekah certainly he was teaching them to trust in him he was reminding them that he is in total control he’s sovereign over the womb he’s sovereign over all of life and he’s teaching that to pasta as well just as he was teaching it to Israel he was using these difficult circumstances to bring them good via the form of teaching them growing them in faith it’s not the only thing he was doing of course but that was one of the main things and by the way God will do that with you too I think many of you know that God is gonna bring you through hard circumstances for good wise and just reasons that he will not explain to you part of what he’s doing though is teaching you he’s in control and that you need to trust him so be ready for that now another question what exactly was God prophesied in verse 23 with this whole two nations older and younger well a couple different things certainly he was revealing that these children and the descendants of them would be in conflict they are separating from one another they’re two whole nations they’re fighting against each other but it’s not only that because he says the old of us serve the younger that Esau the older will serve Jacob the younger but also the peoples will be in the same relationship their peoples will be in conflict but what will be stronger than the other that is the younger will have authority over the older those two peoples who are they that’s Edom and Israel God is foretelling that the people of Edom will be subject to the people of Israel now by the way that’s of course very unnormal this whole thing is very unnormal older doesn’t normally serve the younger I mean think of your own families did you grow up with the younger having control and authority over the older ones maybe in a younger person to dreams but no that’s not how it works but this is what God declared would come to pass not just from Jacob and Esau but for their descendants well is this true did this come to pass well we already see from the second part of our passage how it’s coming true in the lives of Jacob and Esau he saws already given up his birthright he is being supplanted he is coming under the control of the younger but we’ll see even more in the lessons to come how this is fully accomplished and even with their descendants we read on an Old Testament we see indeed not only do Israel Edom frequently come into conflict they often go to war with each other who is it that comes out on top is real the younger people so to speak Israel will often put Edom into subjection days of David and Solomon Edom will be a subject Kingdom it will often repel – because God has to chase in Israel chase in Judah but frequently Eden this put in subjection just as God foretold actually even more interestingly in the last days of the earth when Messiah comes and establishes his kingdom in Israel Obadiah says that Edom once again will be placed into subjection there will continue to be conflict between the descendants of Edom and in descendants of Israel and Edom ultimately will be dominated by Israel under Messiah of course Islam Lord could say about that but I’m just letting you know this is a very far-reaching prophecy from God here in Genesis 25 23 now here’s another question though was it wrong for Isaac to favor Esau I mean the prophecy is that the younger one is going to be the one in authority so was it wrong in – fries ik the favorite Esau well it’s a little hard to say since we don’t have all the details and the prophecy didn’t exactly say so here’s what you should do based on what I just told you but certainly it looks a little shady the way Moses writes it Isaac favorite Esau simply because of food I mean food is hardly a good reason to take a stance contradicting what God has prophesied I mean that’s it I think and later on we will see that Isaac he will try and give God special blessing to Esau and not Jacob just fight what God has for a toll so there does seem to be something a little off with Isaac’s thinking again it’s a little hard to the judge with a few details we have but I wouldn’t go on the side of thinking that Isaac is doing something wrong here he’s acting contrary to God’s will and for the sake of believe he is a negative is a negative example in this I will say more about that later know the question what is he saw really about to die no I don’t think so and people who are actually about to die from hunger and thirst they don’t act like Esau does I’m actually reminded of a little line from Shakespeare one of the plays on their characters says oh I can’t tell you the news because I’m out of breath and the other character responds pets now tell me they are out of breath when thou hast breath tell me that thou art out of breath kind of the same thing with Esau here if you’re really about to die I don’t think you’d be talking the way you are besides I’m sure the other servants could there are there’s many servants and slaves and Isaac’s household inherited from Abraham they would have been able to take care of Esau so he really wasn’t that desperate in situation so why does he say that why does he save you oh well I’m about to die maybe that’s what he feels like but this is just an example of his carelessness and exaggeration in reality he’s just craving that red stew he has a desire that is overpowering him that he wants to fulfill he feels like he’s gonna die without that stew this is just an example of the kind of character that dominates he saw his life he is one given to passion to appetite to impulsiveness he’s another negative example in our passage you don’t want to be like Esau what about Jacob was Jacob right but Jacob wise to take advantage of his brother and his brothers short-sighted craving well in one sense what Jacob does is very shrewd it’s quite amazing you got the birthright from your brother for a bowl of stew and oh boy yeah but that’s a little bit of worldly thinking because was was what Jacob did loving righteous no not in the least this is a craftiness a crafty unkindness that does not honor God and it had this kind of behavior it has a way of biting one in the end especially because the God who is he frequently allows people to feel the consequences of their evil Jacob may have obtained a birthright and Esau might not care now but he will care later he saw will care later and he will blame Jacob for taking advantage of it and he will come to hate Jacob and wants to kill Jacob that’s not going to turn out very well for Jacob so crafty but unkind and really unwise but this leads to another question if Jacob is so crafty and unkind I just got choose Jacob why does God choose Israel and not the let’s face it Jacob’s not exactly winning any points with God here after all he’s the younger he’s not the older though he does value the Abrahamic blessing and birthright he’s gonna prove as he’s already starting to prove to be a very annoying crafty self-reliant person we’ll see you later on Jacob will deceive his own father it’ll take advantage of his brother twice he’ll supplant his broad twice it’ll deceive llave and his father-in-law he’ll have other wives his sons will commit murder and kidnapping me Jacob is a guy with huge faults and problems so why Jake God why pick Jacob in his descendants this would be a faith this would be a question that the Israelites too would have to face but what is the answer what does the answer have to be it has to be because God build it to be good God chooses to do whatever he chooses to do he has mercy on people that is not based on merit this is something we’ve already seen with the choice between Isaac and Ishmael right it wasn’t the oldest that God chose but God said I’m gonna set my love I’m gonna set my blessing I’m gonna make my covenant with Isaac and now Ishmael and now he’s also chosen Jacob and not he saw he has the right to do this and this is why Paul observes what he does based on this account in Genesis you probably know that famous section of Romans 9 go ahead and turn there actually keep your finger in Genesis 25 but go to Romans 9 where Paul makes some comment on this passage verses 10 to 16 Romans 9 Paul has just noted how God chose Isaac over Ishmael and then he says this about Rebekah and Jacob and Esau Romans 9 verses 10 to 16 and not only this but there is Rebekah also when she had conceived twins by one man our Father Isaac but though the twins were not yet born and had not done anything good or bad so that God’s purpose according to his choice would stand not because it works but because of him who calls it was said to her the older will serve the younger justice it is written Jacob I loved but Esau hated by the way that comes from Malachi well shall we say that there’s no injustice with God is there may it never be for he says to Moses I will have mercy on whom I have mercy and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion so then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs but on God who has mercy you see this prophecy of the twins you can turn back to Genesis now this prophecy of the twins is more more proof in the scriptures that God is completely sovereign and that any blessing or salvation received from God is an undeserved gift it’s undeserved mercy and as we said before this is a wonderful truth because it means that no person is beyond God’s ability to save or bless or give eternal life but it also means that if you are such a person or if you want to be such a person you must remember that it is nothing that you bring to God it is not based on any merit you cannot earn God’s salvation or blessing and if you have it it was a gift from God that’s what many other scriptures say right Ephesians 2:8 9 it is by faith by grace through faith that we are saved and this is not of ourselves it is a gift of God so then no one will boast God is showing even in Genesis look this is the way I am this is the way I work I show mercy to those who don’t deserve it Jacob is someone who did not deserve it you know what so are you so are all of us who are in Christ we can see a lot of parallels between Jacob and ourselves actually me like Oh Jacob you’re so annoying we’re not that different from Jacob many times though thankfully God’s not done with us as he’s not done with Jacob he sanctifies us and we are just progressed in sanctification well we got to realize that we’re in the same voice Jacob did not deserve God’s grace let’s leave this to the most central questions that we want to deal with in our passage and that is what is the main point what is Moses wanted to communicate to us primarily and the Spirit of God I would actually say there are a couple of main points kind of all working together three main points from this passage first this is written to explain to Israel their origin and the origin of the you know the book of Genesis is very much about origins and the people visual Vic would need to know where they came from maybe we need to know where the came from and the other peoples of the land that would be around them where did the conflict come from with a bad blood between the and Israelites would that come from it goes back goes back to ancient days God explains in fact this is still true for us you look at the world and I said man why are things like this our peoples like this why they in such conflicts it goes back a long way huge understanding so many of the realities that we deal with today it goes back to the book of Genesis so this is very helpful for us to actually understand how to live in the world we got to understand where things come from God’s explaining that here so there’s a second purpose and it’s one I’ve already alluded to and that is to provide some negative examples for Israel to learn from people that you’re not to be like Israel Esau is number one negative example here but also Isaac and Jacob to a lesser extent they’re all negative examples here of people who acted without faith in God to secure short-term benefit for themselves this is the negative example that Israel and we were to learn self Isaac cared more about food than God’s will for his children Jacob cared more about obtaining his birthright or pertaining the birthright by any means necessary rather than trusting God and loving his brother God would have given Jacob to birthright but Jacob said I have to obtain it even if it means being unkind but Esau of course he takes the cake he’s the poster child but the one who most obviously sacrifices God’s blessing for short-term gratification this is why the writer of Hebrews picks up on Esau as an example for Christians to learn some today Hebrews 12 you don’t have to turn there Hebrews 12 verses 14 to 17 the writer Hebrew says this Hebrews 12:14 17 pursue peace with all men and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord see to it that no one comes short of the grace of God the note of bitterness springing up causes trouble and bite many be defiled that there be no immoral or godless person like Esau who sold his own birthright for a single meal do you know that even after her afterward when he desired to inherit the blessing he was rejected for he found no place for repentance though he sought for it with tears I remember the situation of the book of Hebrews the recipients the book of Hebrews were under pressure to abandon Christ just find comfort and safety in the world and in Judaism it was safer there but the writer of Hebrews Pierzynski saw as an example today he says don’t turn to short-term gratification don’t turn to godlessness or immorality don’t give up the blessings of Christ for passing pleasure and sinning don’t throw away your birthright for single fleeting and ultimately unsatisfying meal is you’ll needed to learn this truth there would be people constantly put under pressure as they follow God into the Promised Land and do war with the people of the land to obtain the land but we also need to learn because we are under pressure to the temptation of the flesh the temptation of the world the temptation of the statement of Satan to in many different ways give up your birthright for a single meal way to learn where to learn at the folly of easil but there is another purpose and it’s I think the most important purpose of all in this passage and that is to remind us of God’s faithful sovereignty I saw that and beginning the passage and we see it in the latter part there are a lot of moving pieces to what we see here when it comes to fulfilling God’s sovereign plan we’ve got Isaac he’s trying to avoid God’s will you saw doesn’t care about God’s will and Jacobs trying to fulfill God’s will by sinful means what’s the result God’s Will was accomplished still exactly as God intended yes God even uses and ordains mysteriously sin and folly and ignorance to bring about his perfect plan at the perfect time I didn’t look at the situation with Jacob and Esau and be like believe me see what I can salvage here no it’s unfolded exactly as God will now God never causes someone to sin he never absolves man of his responsibility to be median and trusting of God but no the great lesson from this passage God will be faithful to his promises no matter what no one will thwart God not even you not even near sin not even the sin of other people now this should have been an encouragement to Israel because they would need to rely on God’s promises in so many ways as they march to take the land of Canaan but again it’s one of the most basic lessons that we also need to learn believe God trusts in his faithful sovereignty everything is under his control you see a circle can’t you say Oh God’s promise surely cannot come to pass now God says look at what I did with Jacob and Esau it came to pass their sin was no roadblock to it we’re gonna be put in high-pressure situations in which we attempted to doubt the promises of God but we need to remember what this passage is teaching us of course this truth is to lead us to obedience not disobedience not to say to ourselves well God’s will it’s gonna be accomplished no matter what then why do I need to be serious about sin if God wants to bless me he’ll bless me no don’t try to test God like that everybody who tries to test God’s promises like that in Scripture they they don’t do well afterwards experiencing pretty painful chastening and some of them God says you’re gonna presume on me I’m gonna let you go out to destruction your indifference your carelessness is actually the reason that you will not see salvation we get exactly what we want God says let my sovereign faithfulness let my open kindness draw you to me not become an excuse for you to turn from me so we’ve observed the passage we’ve interpreted the passage with some very important questions but we’re not done until we get to step three of our method which of course is application how is this to work out in our lives how are we to be transformed by this passage we’ve already broached this topic but let me now put it to you in the form of some specific questions things for you to think about where are you failing to trust and the faithfulness of God I know we live in this world at different temptations certain things come up where we’re moved to not trust God we’re tempted to not risk where’s that for you where are you failing to trust the faithfulness of God enables how can that change how can your mind be reformed refreshed cleanse with the truth how can you act now in your life what decisions can you make that can keep the actual truth of Scripture in mind what will trusting in God look like in your situation this is something to think about another question are you grateful to God for your undeserved salvation like I said we’re actually a lot like Jacob and we’ve bent like Esau many times yet God has been so gracious to us Jesus Christ has been so gracious to us he saved us he accomplished all the work of redemption for us he is the fulfillment of what God was doing even in those ancient days and are we grateful for that did we love the Lord for that do we treat it of no-accounts and I’m like Esau at what’s the birthright to me if we do do it does our life reflect it do we walk worthy of the Salvation calling with which we’ve been called as Ephesians sense are we like the psalmist just so eager to praise God in the public assembly are we grateful I want you to think about and then one more question here where are you tempted to give up your spiritual birthright for a bowl of stew I think this picture of what you saw did it’s really instructive for us because this is what sin is it’s that bowl of stew it’s that red stew looks like it’s gonna be so great so satisfying but you can give up a birthright to get it you gotta make a terrible exchange it’s one you’ll come to regret later and in many ways we know this but keep on being tempted not to believe it so where is that true for you in your life where are you tempted to give up your birthright for a bowl of stew were you tempted to sacrifice the joy of walking with Christ for some passing pleasure or even more seriously where are you tempted to risk your everlasting salvation for some sin habit you know the scriptures are pretty sobering many times so they describe characters who cling to certain things like immorality kingship the favor of the world and they lost everlasting life think of the rich young ruler right Jesus says so all you have give it to the poor and come follow me you’ll have treasure with me but it says he went away sad yeah great wealth you didn’t want to give it up how foolish you just being like Esau and that would be the same for any of us if we want to cling to some treasure of the world some pride some soon I’m making a worse exchange than Robert rain made even a worse exchange than Esau made I mean the birthright was a pretty big deal but that was still on the earth about for those things that go beyond the earth your own soul Jesus says what profit doesn’t man receive he obtains the whole world yet forfeits his soul just like a bowl of stew I urge you the scripture urges you God urges you to hang on to your birthright hang on to your blessing hang on to joy in satisfaction in the Lord by saying noticing by saying I will trust God I will combat this with Scripture I remind myself and others of what the truth is so I don’t go after that that’s what Jesus did in the wilderness right in the scriptures that’s what he uses his weapon against Satan so I heard you to consider these questions as we and today that’s all I have for you questions about what you’ve heard any questions about what you see in this passage or what you’ve heard me say today okay then if you think of any questions or you have a comment you’d like to share with me definitely email me you know I send out this inital emails and you just replies to that but that’s it for this week we’re not done with Jacob and Esau yet this is just the first part of their little saga next week we look at how Esau is to plant it again this time with Jacob stealing the blessing talk about what we can learn from that what God is accomplishing through that next time let’s close in prayer God you are the Lord or the truth you are treasure where is some wonderful wonderful lessons from this passage we are to learn to see the world we see why the world is the way it is we see God the folly of shortsightedness making these worthless exchanges but God would also see your faithfulness your kind and merciful faithfulness through it all you shown that to us for those of us who are in Christ we’re so grateful for that but Lord how many times have we acted just like ezel what helped us to learn to fundamentally learn and progress God you you’re wealthier people is that they not remain as they but proceed onward to forget what is behind and look forward to what is ahead to strive for the prize that is in you you are our life all joy in life is in you so god I pray that that people Calvary and anyone listening today that they would progress that they would be transformed fundamentally by what your word says here God you have called us to obedience you called us to be transformed by your words so I pray that they would I pray that I would I prayed it we would know more of the joy of walking with you and Lord that we would cling tightly to the reward that is to come that we taste impart now though that we know is come Lord Jesus we look forward to sharing that reward in your presence in Jesus name